"Have you been having any contractions?" yes, maybe, kinda, I'll let you know when I'm in labor

"I bet you'll be glad to wear something besides the same maternity clothes all the time" yup

"Have you tried acupuncture?"

"Your tummy is hard" yep, fully filled with a baby at this point

"Have you lost all modesty at this point?"

"Is this your first?" haha, nope

"My sister swears by eggplant parmesan to start labor."

"Can I touch your belly?" luckily this was my friend, so it was extra sweet that she asked

Well, no baby news over here to speak of. I did want to show a few more pictures of the baby's nursery. Here is a link to Elinor's old nursery in Montana. Chloe's was designed pre-blog! Speaking of which, I'm about to celebrate 5 years of blogging!! That's kind of a big anniversary and I didn't even realize it until I just looked it up. I should probably do something special to commemorate it here, but chances are I'll just be in the newborn haze. More to come on that later!

It's funny how things change over time. Things that you swear you wouldn't ever change, end up happening anyway.

I remember when we were pregnant with Chloe and I was vainly hoping we could skip that whole first-parent mania and hyper-awareness that afflicts all new parents. Why couldn't we just be chill? We don't have to freak out over every little thing. Right?

Well, as it turns out, you really can't help it. As a new parent you are learning the ropes and taking care of a tiny person that you've never had to be responsible for before.

It's also true that the more kids you add into the mix, the more relaxed you become. The strict rules you once setup are frequently relaxed quite a bit (hello don't eat anything off the floor). Sometimes you learn things (hello milk drinking on the couch) that you'll never allow to happen again.

I also remember organizing and decorating babies rooms with a real zealousness. This time around we have to move the two older girls in together and then turn Elinor's room back into a baby/nursery room. I don't think I'll be painting since we just finished painting it a neutral color. Instead, I am contemplating painting the dresser a bright yellow color to liven up the space a little bit. My inspiration being the image at the top of the post from Love Taza. I also will most likely be recycling art from both Chloe's and Elinor's baby rooms.

I think we've reached a point that we are those chill parents of multiple kids that don't have to freak out about every detail and can really enjoy the baby phase this time around. This might be wishful thinking, but I think Oprah would approve of this positive energy I'm putting out into the world.

While this guest bedroom is not 100% complete, I thought it would be fun to show some before and after photos of our guest bedroom re-do.

Here are a few 'before' pictures. The previous owner had this room setup as a nursery/office area. The walls were a dark salmon color and there were many, many holes in the wall. All the white marks are where I had attempted to patch them before the paint job.

This bedroom gets a lot of natural light so it was begging for some lighter walls to really utilize the light and make it feel less heavy. The main work of updating this room involved adding lots of fresh paint and changing out the window treatments. We chose a light blue/green for the walls and some large width blinds from Home Depot. Blinds are a great option for letting light in without losing all of your privacy.

The current light fixture is a ceiling fan/light that I'm not really in love with. I'm on the hunt for a new fixture, but I haven't landed on one yet. We are also in the process of switching out the outlets because the previous owner painted those salmon pink also. Which, is highly annoying, so don't do that, FYI.

Here are some after photos.

I picked these prints up at Target for $3 each. #targetdoesitagain

We purchased a new bed frame and a new bed for the room also. I think the mattress and box spring we had in there were the ones I used in college. They were in desperate need of an upgrade and I am still embarrassed I had my guests/family members sleeping on such an old and uncomfortable bed in the first place!

The side table is a fun antique I picked up a few years ago and the mini-dresser is from World Market.

The coffee bean sack you see above the bed is one I picked up out of a bin at a farm and ranch store (for $1 a sack) in Montana a few years ago. I had plans to cover some chairs with the feed sack material, but I'm glad I just hung on to it. It adds a really neat vintage vibe and brings in some wood/natural fiber texture and tone to the room.

So despite needing a new light fixture, probably adding a wall mirror to the space above, fixing that mess in the cabinet, and some more touch up paint, this room is nearly finished. While I really don't like painting, it's amazing what a little change can do to a room. The paint I used was Lazy Days in Valspar from Lowe's. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions on a good light fixture for this room!

Here are a few photos of our new house so far. We moved into our home in November and I'm going on two months of painting at this point. So far I've painted two bathrooms (master and guest) and our master bedroom and done some touch-ups. These rooms were first on the list because they were painted a very dark grey or black. Our master bathroom gave me the heeby-jeebies after a while and I had to paint the dungeon vibe out of the place.

This is a corner of our master bathroom above our tub. I'm in love with the light fixture we put in (find it at Lowes) and all the light this room gets. The print hanging on the wall is one of my new favorites. Find it here and support the ACLU with your purchase! Paint color is Bohemian Lace by Sherwin Williams.

I've been in the market for a Moroccan pouf for quite some time now. Our old ottoman was falling apart and we needed an upgrade. I was hesitant at first because it seems like a lot of online reviews mentioned a possible smell issue with these poufs. I couldn't be happier with our pouf (via Wayfair) and it's now one of my favorite things in our house.

My initial plan in this room was to paint the walls white (as you can see it's my go-to wall color these days). After a few weeks in the house, all I wanted to do was just put my books away and get things organized, so painting would have to wait. Slowly this dark color has grown on me so it might just stay this color for a while.

This is a scene from our entryway. I really love having the Amerian Flag hanging up there and am proud to show it off in our home.

So why, you might ask, are these old cross-stitch scenes showing up for my regularly scheduled Etsy Thursday blog post? Things you might have seen at your grandmother's house when you were little?

Well, exactly because you might have seen them at your grandmother's house.

What's old is new again!!! Who wants another print from Target when you can have something that's been around a while, can tell you a thing or two about life, or brings back warm memories of yesteryear? I personally love things with a little character and that might be a little rough around the edges. Etsy is a great place to shop for one of a-kind-pieces that can really add character to your space.

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